Girls tennis: Winnacunnet drops second match of season in 8-1 loss to Exeter

Friday

May 16, 2014 at 2:00 AM

HAMPTON — They have climbed several rungs of the Division I girls' tennis ladder in recent seasons and started well this season.

STEVE CRAIG

HAMPTON — They have climbed several rungs of the Division I girls' tennis ladder in recent seasons and started well this season.

On Tuesday, Winnacunnet was reminded the next level will be more difficult to reach.

Playing their rivals from Exeter — a staple in the state team semifinal round — Winnacunnet suffered its second loss of the season. The Warriors dropped all six singles matches and needed a win at No. 3 doubles from seniors Sarah Quirk and Barbara Krajina to avoid the shutout, falling 8-1.

Winnacunnet dipped to 8-2, its eight-match winning streak snapped. It was the 10th straight win for Exeter (11-1).

"Exeter's always really strong," Winnacunnet head coach Kathleen Rhoades said. "I knew if we had any chance it would be at the top three (singles) because they are so deep."

Most of the matches were competitive. With their long rallies, a quick glance or two would have left an observer thinking the teams' top singles players were relatively even.

Exeter had the edge in the upper half of the singles bracket because senior Katie Wood, freshman Melissa Wood and junior Anna Heard made significantly fewer unforced errors than the top three from Winnacunnet: senior Melina Minichello, junior Alison Taylor and junior Lauren Mackechnie.

"We like to play strategically and with power and pace," Minichello said. "Today we were all just — I don't even know how to put it. We just weren't playing our game."

Katie Wood beat Minichello, 8-5, in a match that featured long rallies with lots of balls arcing into the middle of the court.

"That was not (the strategy)," Rhoades said. "That was Melina having a bad day."

Both players struggled to hold serve with at least four consecutive lost service games resulting in Wood holding a 6-5 lead. Wood was able to hold her serve for the pivotal 7-5 lead and then stave off several game points to break Minichello's serve for the win.

Wood's younger sister Melissa played a very clean match and consistently moved Taylor around the court in her 8-1 win.

Mackechnie and Heard both showed the ability to hit hard ground strokes with Heard taking the 8-4 match.

In the bottom half of the singles, Exeter's depth show up in the overall level of the Blue Hawks' games, particularly in terms of powerful and accurate ground strokes from both the forehand and backhand. These matches had less to do with which player made more errors. Rather, Exeter's players had superior overall games.

"We are very deep and consistent," Exeter head coach Lisa Packard said.

Exeter's Katie Lietz blanked Winnacunnet's Hannah Rogers, 8-0, at No. 4. Rogers was playing up due to the absence of Lauren Fehr, the Warriors' regular No 4.

"Our (singles) ladder goes top to bottom," Minichello said, indicating a consistent and normal decline. "Exeter's, theirs is like a straight line. They all have the same experience. They're five and six (singles) players are as good as their three and four."

At first doubles, Taylor and Minichello did start to find their hitting stride and played an entertaining match against the Wood sisters, who pulled away late for an 8-5 win.

Mackechnie and Rogers lost to Heard and Salzman, also by an 8-5 score.

With all the other matches finished, Quirk and Krajina control early and held on for an 8-6 win against Lietz and Aleksa.

Rhoades said she saw positives from the match that belied the final team score.

"They were very competitive and stayed with it, even if they were trailing," Rhoades said. "They played every point like it was Love-all, which in the past they haven't necessarily done."

The Warriors hosted Alvirne (1-9) on Thursday and are at unbeaten Bedford today.

The regular-season concludes next week with matches at Keene (1-11) and Pinkerton (6-4).

Winnacunnet was sixth in the standings as of Thursday morning.

"Where we'll finish depends on what happens with other teams," Rhoades said. "I'm probably guessing we'll finish at number six. There are so many teams in that one-to-three loss range."

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